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Princess Bride t-shirt causes in-flight scare

The Princess Bride achieved cult status after its release on home video

24 January 2013 • 12:00am

Wynand Mullins boarded a plane bound for Auckland on Sunday with “My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die” printed on the front of his top.

While some fellow fliers recognised that the line was from the swashbuckling 1987 film The Princess Bride, it went over the heads of other passengers, who told cabin crew they felt threatened by the t-shirt’s message.

Mr Mullins told Fairfax New Zealand: "The flight attendant said to me: 'Are you able to remove it because some of the passengers are quite intimidated by it'. I thought it was all a bit silly. The person next to me was laughing, because they knew the movie.

“The whole experience was a bit over the top, but also a bit comical."

Mr Mullins said he had no other t-shirt to change into, adding that a flight attendant went to find something for him to wear but did not return.

A Qantas spokesman said the dispute had been settled on board the flight.

"Qantas does have dress standards for passengers travelling on our aircraft ... particularly for slogans which other passengers may find offensive or threatening," he added.

The Princess Bride was a modest success at the box office, grossing $30.8 million in North America on a $16 million production budget, but achieved cult status after its release on home video and has been named as one of the 50 greatest comedy films of all time by Total Film and Channel 4.

Starring Robin Wright and Cary Elwes, and with cameos from the likes of Billy Crystal, Mel Smith, Peter Cook and Andre the Giant, it tells the story of Princess Buttercup, who is forced to marry the evil Prince Humperdinck. Buttercup’s first love, Westley, comes to the rescue, with the help of Fezzik and Inigo Montoya – who utters the famous line.